Can Australia double its energy productivity? The Australian Alliance to Save Energy would like Australia to set and reach this target by 2030. This matches a similar goal that was adopted by the Obama Administration in February last year.

As Australia’s energy prices have risen, now almost matching those paid by our global competitors, we need to make sure we do more with our energy – i.e. to improve our energy productivity – if Australian businesses are to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

But Australia has fallen way behind the rest of the world in energy efficiency, only improving by 0.5% each year, while others have achieved more than twice this rate. Now China and India, as well as comparable economies like Canada and the USA, have greater energy productivity than us. What is the best way for Australia to both catch up and keep up with the pace so that we can maintain and improve our global competitiveness?

The “2XEP” Forum to be held on 3-4th April 2014 at the University of Technology, Sydney, in Sydney's CBD, will explore this challenge and launch the Australian campaign. See www.a2se.org.au for more details.